Sainte-Begge collegiate church

 

Sainte-Begge collegiate church was built between 1770 and 1775 by the architect L.-B. Dewez. The building is made up of three naves with five bays, a high and prominent transept and a chancel with three bays and polygonal chevet. It has a barrelled roof with lunettes on joists and a tower situated above the chevet. The façade has two levels. The first level features Ionic pilasters supporting an entablature. This level is decorated with two niches with curved pediment placed either side of a moulded arched door and bearing the chronogram for 1773. The second level has pilasters with Corinthian capitals. It has an arched window flanked by two arched niches. This topped by an entablature and triangular pediment. The nave features arched arcades decorated with pilasters with composite capitals. Above these arcades are a moulded entablature and a clerestory. The nave is flanked by vaulted side aisles with foliage key. Lowered windows light the nave, transept and chancel. The arms of the transept end in an apse with three walls. Above the crossing of the transept is a false dome. The chancel with three bays is enclosed by a polygonal chevet flanked by two apses and annexed to sacristies and a chapter room. The chevet is topped by a high four-level tower, capped with a domed roof. Note the interior in the style of Louis XVI, Renaissance stalls (17th century) in the chancel, the marble altars (18th century) and the tomb of St Begge in the transept, as well as the treasury housing the Renaissance shrine of the saint who founded Andenne abbey and who is the patron saint of the town.

Listed (22-021938)  - Exceptional heritage site of Wallonia